SYMBOLS OF A LONG-AGO TIME

A Symbol of a Decade

When I see the photo that is my current header here, I think of a time long ago.

Back in the seventies, I had one of these VW buses.  It was an iconic image of freedom, exploring all the options, and a music-filled life with sweet smelling Patchouli filtering around us.

When I wrote my book Miles to Go, I spotlighted that time in my life.  The characters could have been me and my friends.  Some people reading that book believe that I borrowed a few pages from my life back then.  And they’re not wrong.  But there were many fictionalized aspects to the book, so don’t expect to end up really knowing us.  But then again, you might.

So…as a teaser, you might want to visit my website and explore my blog Miles to Go with Laurel-Rain Snow for a further peek into that world.

TEASER TUESDAYS

Hosted by Should Be Reading, this weekly bookish meme is all about “teasing” readers into adding more books to the “to-be-read” list.

Here’s how it works:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

I just found a delightful excerpt in my current read, Little Women, which is by Louisa May Alcott, of course.  This is actually a reread for me—for a challenge.

“I saw something that I liked this morning, and I meant to tell it at dinner, but I forgot,” said Beth, putting Jo’s topsy-turvy basket in order as she talked.  “When I went to get some oysters for Hannah, Mr. Laurence was in the fish-shop; but he didn’t see me, for I kept behind a barrel, and he was busy with Mr. Cutter, the fish-man…” p. 59.

I wanted to keep going to tell the whole anecdote, but decided just to tease you!

I’m sure I don’t need to produce a blurb as to what this story is about…but in case anyone hasn’t read it, it’s a classic from the 1800s that has never been out of print.  It’s the story of a delightful family with four sisters:  Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy, and it is set during the Civil War.  They are among the “genteel poor” during those difficult times.

What books are you teasing us with this week?  I hope you’ll stop by and share.

JUXTAPOSITION…

Before and After

I like to view the juxtaposition of objects, or in the case of my newest blog header here, those “before and after” kinds of images that remind us of the passage of time and the enhancement of experience.

This photo on the left captures an image of my teenage daughter, as she sits on a white wicker settee in an upstairs bedroom in my foothills house.  She grabbed a velvet hat off of a coat rack that sat in the corner of that room, just for the fun of it.  From the expression on her face, she might be pondering her next adventure or even a romance.

In the photo on the right, we see a confident woman, a few years older, and very much in command of her own person.  Any dreams she might be having here are soon to be realized as she takes off on the open road.  She is a wife, a mother, and a woman enjoying her life.

I like looking at photos that tell a story.  Do you have any that you’re especially fond of that recreate moments?  I hope you’ll stop by and share.

DREAMS OF COTTAGES

Dream Cottages

These two lovely books feature cottage decor:  the first being a journey through one of Engelbreit’s lovely homes; and the other is a book that features English cottages.

My current blog header spotlights these books that include many of my favorite things in their pages, and reminds me that even if I don’t personally own any of these lovely cottages, I can copy these techniques in my own home.

What are your favorite decorative fantasies?

TEASER TUESDAYS

Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by Should Be Reading.

Here’s how it works:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

In Jonathan Kellerman’s newest Alex Delaware suspense thriller, Deception, we read this excerpt:

Helfgott put his water glass down, removed his specs.  His eyes were small, diminished further by heavy lids, with watery hazel irises.  p.56

This is another, captivating suspense that has Milo Sturgis and his sidekick Alex Delaware, trying to solve a murder mystery that involves sadistic acts by teachers at one of LA’s most prestigious prep schools.

On Amazon, we see this blurb:

Elise Freeman, a teacher and tutor at exclusive Windsor Preparatory Academy in Brentwood, is found dead in her Studio City apartment in a bathtub full of dry ice. Despite Elise’s having left a DVD accusing three fellow teachers at the academy of repeated sexual harassment, Weinberg wants (for personal reasons) the investigation to involve the school as little as possible. As usual, psychologist Alex Delaware takes an active role in the investigation, which finds the victim had lots to hide…

What can you tease us with this week?  Hope you’ll stop by and share.

WEEKEND POTPOURRI

Last night, as I was reading my current book, I promised myself that this weekend would be for finishing books, starting new ones, and totally staying off the computer—except for emergencies, like checking e-mails and possibly posting book reviews as I finish.

So why am I here?  Well, in the process of checking e-mails, I read some posts at other blogs (the ones to which I subscribe) and had an idea.

I’ll be carrying it out a little later, though, on Miles to Go, or Embrace the Whirlwind. Don’t worry…I’m not stealing someone else’s idea.  The other post just triggered something.

So why am I mentioning it here?  Well, in addition to reading, that will be the wee bit of posting that I do.

As for books, I kept getting notifications from the library that books I requested were available, and I kept running over there, so now I have a huge stack of books!

These all are books for challenges.  The All Things Alcott Challenge and the Seconds Challenge.

One is a “second” book I’ll be reading from the author Adriana Trigiani; and the others are all about or by Louisa May Alcott.

There are Little Women, Little Men, Louisa May Alcott, The Woman Behind Little Women, and The Lost Summer of Louisa May Alcott. And the Trigiani book:  Home to Big Stone Gap.

I have a couple books ahead of these, so I’d better hurry!  So now I’m going back to bed, with my coffee and breakfast, and I’m going to READ!!!

BOOK BLOGGER HOP

This Friday meme is hosted by Crazy for Books. The point of the meme is to hop around the blogosphere, exploring all the wonderful blogs out there, and then coming back to talk about the experience.

I didn’t hop as much as I should have, but I’ve discovered these blogs that intrigued me.

Here’s what I found:

Love to Read for Fun

Love at the End of the World

Minding Spot

What did you discover out there in the great big blogosphere?  Hop on by and share.

A TREE LOVER’S STORY

The arch of this tree limb reminds me of its history.

Many, many years ago, my parents bought the property where this tree resides.

I am not sure if they planted the tree, or if it was there already, but we moved onto the property when I was a year old—and I’m not going to say how many years ago that was!  LOL.

The barn came later, and in the beginning, it was a half-barn, and housed the stalls for the cows.  Later the barn hosted chickens.

Nowadays, it is the helm of my younger brother’s sign-painting business and is equipped with modern technology.

But back to the tree…I remember my older brother climbing in it when we were kids.  I didn’t—my preference was for an old fig tree, because its trunk had knots that were perfect for the purchase of little feet.

This photo was snapped by my eldest son, Craig Robinson, Berlin Photographer, when we visited the old homestead together during his last sojourn here in the states—in early 2007.

Currently, it is the header (in its full glory) over at Out on a Limb.

My parents are gone, but my younger brother now lives on the property with his family, which means that I can visit this tree now and then.

What sentimental landmarks do you recall from your childhood?  I hope you’ll stop by and share your stories.

TEASER TUESDAYS

Miz B, at Should Be Reading, hosts this weekly bookish meme.

Here’s how it works:

• Grab your current read
• Open to a random page
• Share two (2) “teaser” sentences from somewhere on that page
• BE CAREFUL NOT TO INCLUDE SPOILERS! (make sure that what you share doesn’t give too much away! You don’t want to ruin the book for others!)
• Share the title & author, too, so that other TT participants can add the book to their TBR Lists if they like your teasers!

Today, I’m delving into the pages of Private Life, by Jane Smiley.  Here’s where the page fell open:

The room was filled with painters and musicians, and men with no daily occupation more pressing than finding a good cigar.  Dora accompanied these men around the city, into shops and factories and livery stables and warehouses and brothels, or to garden lunches and society parties and masked balls, all the time eavesdropping and asking questions and writing up little pieces under the headline “In Another Part of the City.”  p.151

On the inside cover, we read this snippet:

A portrait of marriage and the mysteries that endure even in lives lived side by side, a riveting historical panorama; an unforgettable novel from one of our finest storytellers.

What teasers did you find this week?  Hope you’ll stop by and share.

SUNDAY POTPOURRI

Grandkids in a Moment of Repose

Happy Mother’s Day to all mothers!

Today has been laid-back so far.  Yesterday I had a couple of my older grandkids, and we had fun at the movies, the bookstore, and a couple of meals.  They’re teenagers, now, so visits with them are less frequent than they used to be.  Oh, my, to be low on the priorities these days!  lol.

We saw Iron Man 2, which I enjoyed as much as they did, I think.  Amazing.  It’s a little more difficult to find movies we can all relate to…I had to pooh-pooh some of their choices, and, of course, they didn’t want to see some of mine.

Newly Created Header

For the past couple of days, I’ve been obsessed with creating blog titles on some of my photo headers over at Blogger.  I noticed that some people have their own creative fonts, etc., so I did a bit of exploring.  At first I was stymied by the installation process until I saw the option of not having the blog title appear (the Blogger format), which opened the door to putting in my own creative one.

Some people do this on Picnik.com, but I haven’t figured out how to utilize the tools there yet.  So I created mine on Photobucket, where I design the blog buttons.  Same principle.

Today I even created text on some possible headers, just in case I get bored with the ones I have.  I know this about myself…I do need to change things up a bit.

Go to Out on a Limb to see what I did there; then meander on over to Moonbeams & Rainbows.

For those of you  who’ve been doing this kind of thing for eons, please forgive my excitement!  lol

For me, discovering how to do new technological things is like throwing wide a door onto new and unexplored horizons.